REPORT  OF  THE  WORK 


OF    THE 


COURT  OF  DOMESTIC 
RELATIONS 


1913-1914 


TNEUIIMfrVOFTfE 

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OfllVORfTY  or  ILLINT  l?5 


HON.  JOSEPH  Z.  UHLIR. 
JUDGE 


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REPORT  OF  THE  WORK 


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Court  of  Domestic  Relations 


1913-1914 


Hon.  Joseph  Z.  Uhlir,  Judge 


THE  UMMY  OF  THE 

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OtPAfiTMENT  OP  SOC1«L  'MV 


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HE  Court  of  Domestic  Relations,  the  first  one  of 
its  kind,  was  established  on  April  3,  1911,  as  a 
branch  of  the  Municipal  Court  of  Chicago.  It 
was  given  jurisdiction  over  violations  of  laws 
involving  chiefly  wrongs  to  women  and  children, 
as  the  name  of  the  court  indicates.  Three  judges 
have  so  far  presided  over  this  unique  court — Judge  Goodnow 
during  the  first  year  of  its  existence.  Judge  Gemmill  during 
the  second  year,  and  during  the  third  year,  from  April  3,  1913, 
to  May  4,  1914,  I  had  the  honor  to  hold  this  court.  Each  year 
has  witnessed  a  great  growth  in  the  amount  of  business  trans- 
acted. During  the  first  year  2796  cases  were  heard  and  dis- 
posed of;  in  the  second  year  the  number  grew  to  3699  cases, 
while  the  third  year  saw  the  disposition  of  4413  cases.  This 
surprising  growth  in  the  number  of  cases  handled  does  not 
mean  that  Chicago  is  daily  getting  more  lawless,  or  that  the 
family  life  and  the  morals  of  the  people  are  growing  worse. 
The  increased  business  is  a  proof  of  the  efficiency  of  the  court ; 
it  demonstrates  that  the  establishment  of  this  court  was  a  wise 
measure,  and  that  the  Court  of  Domestic  Relations,  as  its  work 
is  becoming  better  known,  reaches  the  wrongs  suffered  by 
women  and  children  far  more  completely  than  was  the  case 
formerly  in  the  police  courts.  It  is  merely  what  one  would 
expect.  A  judge  assigned  to  hold  the  Court  of  Domestic  Re- 
lations is  selected  out  of  a  large  number  of  judges  because  of 
special  qualifications  for  this  kind  of  work,  and  he  becomes 
naturally  an  expert  in  the  handling  of  cases  involving  the 
family  relations  of  the  parties  before  him;  he  has  the  assistance 
of  trained  and  experienced  officers  and  special  attaches  qual- 
ified to  handle  the  particular  class  of  cases  coming  before  his 
court,  and  he  gets  the  invaluable  co-operation  of  charitable 
and  civic  organizations,  such  as  has  enabled  the  Court  of  Do- 
mestic Relations  not  merely  to  punish,  but  to  help  and  to  heal. 


$200,000  YEARLY  FOR  DESERTED  FAMILIES. 

The  success  of  the  court  is  best  shown  by  a  few  figures. 

Abandonment  and  non-support  of  Avife  and  children  constitutes 

the  most  important  class  entrusted  to  the  court.    Prior  to  the 

opening  of  this  special  court   only  some  twelve   or  thirteen 

thousand  dollars  was  paid  annually  to  the  clerk's  office  for  the 

.    support  of  deserted  families  upon  orders  of  various  judges  of 

^    the  Municipal  Court  sitting  in  police  stations.     This  sum  was 

,,   increased  in  the  first  year  of  the  Court  of  Domestic  Relations 

>   to  $19,618.05.    Next  year,  as  the  court  came  to  be  better  known, 

^v  the  amount  collected  increased  to  $75,562.59,  and  in  the  third 

;>.  year,  during  the  time  I  was  presiding,  $100,294.94  was  paid 

out  by  the  clerk  to  women  and  children  upon  orders  of  the 

Page  one 


court.  These  figures  do  not  by  any  means  tell  the  whole  story. 
No  statistics  can  be  obtained  of  money  paid  directly  to  women 
and  children  upon  orders  of  the  court  or  in  cases,  where  fam- 
ilies have  been  reunited  as  a  result  of  the  intervention  of  the 
court,  but  there  is  na  doubt  that  this  amount  is  fully  equal  to 
the  sum  paid  into  the  court.  This  fact  alone— the  difference 
between  $13,000  collected  formerly  and  $200,000  collected  now 
— proves  abundantly  the  usefulness  and  efficiency  of  the  Court 
of  Domestic  Relations. 


PROTECTION  OF  HOME  TIES,  RATHER  THAN  PUNISH- 
MENT OF  OFFENDER  IS  THE  AIM  OF  THE  COURT. 

The  court  is  a  criminal  court ;  it  deals  with  offenders  who 
break  the  law  of  the  state.  But  the  laws  which  it  enforces  are 
mainly  laws  for  the  protection  of  the  weak  and  for  the  pre- 
servation of  those  home  ties  which  are  the  foundation  of  the 
community.  And  so  in  dealing  with  infractions  of  the  law, 
the  Court  of  Domestic  Relations  does  not  aim  principally  at 
punishing  the  offender,  but  at  working  out  such  a  solution  of 
the  whole  problem  as  to  prevent  its  recurrence,  if  possible,  or 
to  remove  the  causes  of  it.  What  the  judge  of  this  court  needs, 
is  not  so  much  profound  erudition  in  the  technicalities  of  the 
law,  as  a  sympathetic  knowledge  of  human  nature  and  an  in- 
stinctive recognition  of  the  right  method  of  handling  the  in- 
dividual offender.  As  a  distinguished  English  visitor  expressed 
it,  the  judge  must  be  a  wise  Eastern  kaadi.  A  plain,  friendly 
talk  will  convince  one  man  that  he  has  behaved  badly,  and  he 
begs  forgiveness  of  his  wife  and  promises  the  judge  to  keep 
away  from  liquor  or  whatever  the  cause  of  the  trouble  may  be, 
while  another  man  gets  more  stubborn,  if  the  judge  is  inclined 
to  show  him  leniency.  Sometimes  a  mere  taste  if  imprisonment 
will  tame  a  defiant  husband.  He  is  sentenced  to  six  months  in 
the  House  of  Correction,  and  the  bailiff  locks  him  up  tem- 
porarily in  a  back-room.  It  is  wonderful  what  an  effect  a  few 
hours'  confinement  will  have.  The  man  begins  to  figure  how 
long  six  months  must  be,  if  two  hours  seems  an  infinity,  and 
when  later  in  the  day  he  is  again  brought  before  the  judge,  he 
is  a  broken  man  and  sincerely  anxious  to  deserve  the  clemency 
of  the  court.  It  goes  without  saying  that  the  judge  makes  ex- 
tensive use  of  the  provisions  of  the  probation  act.  Sending  the 
husband  to  jail  or  workhouse  leaves  the  family  generally  in 
destitute  circumstances.  So  the  sentence  is  suspended,  and  the 
offender  placed  on  his  good  behavior  under  the  supervision  of 
an  adult  probation  officer.  Unless  there  is  reason  to  fear  that 
he  would  run  away,  his  individual  recognizance  without  sure- 
ties is  accepted.    Those  that  show  no  repentance  or  whose  con- 

Page  two 


duct  has  been  atrocious  or  who  have  broken  a  promise  to  make 
good  are  sentenced  to  the  House  of  Correction  for  a  term  of 
sis  months  or  a  year.  But  in  a  few  days  the  wife  that  had  the 
husband  arrested  and  who  testified  against  him  and  exhibited 
black  and  blue  spots  where  he  had  struck  her,  comes  back  to 
plead  for  him.  He  may  be  a  brute,  but  he  is  the  father  of  her 
children,  and  she  is  sure  that  he  will  do  better,  and  begs  the 
judge  piteousiy  to  give  him  another  chance.  The  judge  readily 
gives  in  to  her  plea  and  orders  the  man  released  from  Bride- 
well on  probation.  In  a  great  majority  of  cases  one  lesson  is 
sufficient.  The  man  is  told  that  if  he  lays  a  hand  on  his  wife 
or  neglects  his  family,  he  will  be  brought  back  and  made  to 
serve  the  whole  of  his  term.  He  is  placed  under  the  supervision 
of  an  adult  probation  officer.  The  officer  helps  him  to  find  em- 
ployment, if  the  probationer  is  out  of  work ;  he  settles  disputes 
between  husband  and  wife,  sees  to  it  that  the  order  of  the 
court  for  the  support  of  the  family  is  obeyed,  and  in  general 
acts  the  part  of  a  good  Samaritan.  The  people  of  Chicago  do 
not  realize  how  important  and  how  thorough-going  is  the  work 
carried  on  by  Judge  Houston  and  his  force  of  adult  probation 
officers. 


APPEALS  ARE  RARE. 

The  Court  of  Domestic  Relations  is  primarily  a  court  of 
poor  people  and  of  immigrants.  The  rich  settle  their  domestic 
difficulties  elsewhere,  either  by  suit  for  divorce,  or  by  a  sep- 
aration mutually  agreed  upon,  or  by  retirement  to  a  sanitarium. 
The  parties  before  the  Court  of  Domestic  Relations  seldom  can 
afford  to  employ  lawyers,  and  it  is  up  to  the  judge  to  question 
witnesses  and  bring  out  the  true  state  of  facts.  And  further, 
while  this  court  is  technically  only  a  branch  of  the  Municipal 
Court  of  Chicago  and  a  court  of  limited  jurisdiction,  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  it  is  a  court  of  last  resort.  Of  the  thou- 
sands of  cases  tried  by  me  in  the  Court  of  Domestic  Relations, 
only  one  case  was  appealed,  a  Chinaman  sentenced  to  jail  for 
contributing  to  the  delinquency  of  a  girl,  and  in  that  case  the 
judgment  was  affirmed  by  the  Appellate  Court. 


NEED  OF  AN  INTERPRETER. 

So  many  foreigners,  unable  to  speak  English,  bring  their 
differences  before  this  court,  that  a  judge  who  does  not  un- 
derstand the  chief  European  languages  is  handicapped  in  get- 
ting the  true  facts  of  each  case.  The  parties  may  bring  a 
friend  who  knows  some  English,  or  the  court  clerk  or  bailiff 
is  called  on  to  do  his  best.     But  in  the  absence  of  an  expert 

Page  three 


interpreter  the  witness  does  not  grasp  fully  the  lawyer's  or 
the  judge's  question,  and  the  judge  does  not  get  the  whole 
effect  of  the  witness's  testimony.  The  court  should  have  an 
expert  interpreter  on  its  staff,  so  that  this  unintentional,  and 
sometimes  intentional  suppression  of  testimony  might  be  pre- 
vented. 

COURT  IS  A  FRIENDLY  COURT. 

As  this  is  the  poor  man's  and  particularly  the  poor  wom- 
an's court,  an  effort  has  been  made  to  impress  upon  them  the 
fact  that  it  is  a  friendly  court.  Both  complainants  and  defend- 
ants are  treated  with  consideration  and  patience  by  the  judge 
and  the  officers  of  the  court.  In  the  second  year  of  the  court's 
existence  a  court  room  adjoining  the  room  where  the  court 
proper  is  held  was  fitted  up  as  a  rest-room  for  women  waiting 
to  have  their  cases  called.  Comfortable  chairs  and  rockers 
have  been  installed,  as  well  as  cots  for  babies  of  whom  so  many 
are  brought  into  court  every  day.  There  is  now  a  play-room 
for  children  with  kindergarten  material,  and  the  nurse — of 
whose  work  a  more  extensive  mention  is  made  later — instructs 
the  mother  in  the  proper  care  of  children.  Last  Christmas  a 
beautifully  trimmed  Christmas  tree  was  set  up  in  the  waiting 
room,  with  toys,  fruit  and  candy  for  every  child  Avhose  parents 
had  their  difficulties  adjusted  by  the  court  during  the  holiday 
season,  and  baskets  of  Christmas  cheer  were  sent  to  families 
of  men  who  had  been  sentenced  to  the  House  of  Correction  by 
this  court.  It  was  surely  the  first  time  that  a  Christmas  tree 
was  set  up  in  connection  with  a  court  of  justice.  The  money 
needed  was  contributed  by  the  court  and  individuals  and  or- 
ganizations co-operating  with  the  court,  and  to  them  also  is 
due  the  existence  of  a  special  fund  which  the  judge  uses  for 
immediate  relief  in  cases  where  the  facts  show  it  to  be  neces- 
sary, further  relief  being  given  later  by  some  one  of  the  char- 
itable organizations  represented  in  the  court. 


LONG  DAILY  SESSIONS. 

This  court  is  a  busy  court.  It  does  not  adjourn,  except  for 
a  few  minutes  at  lunch  time,  until  it  has  disposed  of  all  the 
cases  on  the  call  for  that  day.  The  call  is  always  heavy,  but 
the  parties  are  entitled  to  a  patient  and  full  hearing,  and  so  it 
frequently  happens  that  this  court  is  sitting  long  after  the 
regular  adjournment  hour  of  the  Municipal  Court.  It  is  no 
unusual  thing  to  have  the  officers,  as  well  as  the  judge  of  the 
Court  of  Domestic  Relations  work  twelve  or  even  fourteen 
hours  in  one  day.  The  amount  of  business,  very  "heavy  now 
and  increasing  steadily,  points  to  the  need  of  a  branch  court 
of  Domestic  Relations. 

Page  four 


WORK  OF  THE  SECRETARIES. 

In  addition  to  clerks  and  bailiffs,  the  assistant  state's  at- 
torney and  city  prosecuting  attorney,  the  Court  of  Domestic 
Relations  has  a  number  of  special  workers  on  its  staff.  From 
the  very  beginning  an  experienced  social  worker,  a  woman, 
was  employed  to  interview  complainants,  sift  the  facts  and  re- 
lieve the  judge  of  much  unnecessary  detail  work.  During  my 
term  a  second  secretary  had  to  be  added  to  the  court's  working 
force.  These  ladies  have  an  office  adjoining  the  restroom,  and 
complainants  and  applicants  for  warrants  are  directed  to  apply 
to  them.  j\Iany  times  there  is  no  ground  for  a  warrant,  but 
rather  need  for  relief  or  legal  advice,  or  some  other  thing 
which  another  agency  is  fitted  to  give.  The  secretary  refers 
such  persons  to  the  proper  agenc3^  Many  persons  are  willing 
and  even  anxious  to  avoid  court  action,  so  that  a  letter  re- 
questing husband  and  wife  to  come  in  and  talk  over  their  dif- 
ficulties results  in  a  satisfactorj^  agreement,  without  either  a 
warrant  or  trial.  Sometimes  a  letter  of  warning  will  accom- 
plish the  desired  result.  From  75  to  100  conferences  are  held 
each  month  with  quarrelling  couples,  and  the  secretary's  me- 
diation results  in  a  large  percentage  of  reconciliations.  An  im- 
portant part  of  the  work  of  the  secretaries  is  to  enforce  the 
payment  of  the  weekly  sum  awarded  by  the  court  to  the  aban- 
doned wife  and  children.  A  letter  of  warning  is  first  sent  to 
the  defaulting  husband,  and  if  that  does  not  bring  results,  he 
is  brought  before  the  judge  to  answer  the  charge  of  contempt 
of  court  for  disobeying  the  order  to  pay  the  stated  sum  for  the 
support  of  the  family.  The  two  secretaries  heard  last  year 
10,765  complaints  of  all  sorts. 


DOCTOR  AND  NURSE  ADDED  TO  THE  STAFF 
OF  THE  COURT. 

During  the  second  year  of  the  court 's  existence  an  attempt 
was  made  to  determine  in  some  measure  the  causes  which  lead 
to  so  many  family  troubles.  The  judge  after  hearing  the  testi- 
mony in  the  case,  noted  his  conclusion  of  what  appeared  to  him 
to  be  the  cause  of  family  separation.  Drunkenness,  immorality, 
ill  temper  and  abuse,  interference  of  relatives,  laziness  and 
venereal  diseases  were  given  as  chief  causes.  But  it  soon  be- 
came apparent  that  this  analysis  did  not  go  deep  enough,  and 
that  frequently  the  underlying  cause  of  the  trouble  vras  a  phy- 
sical or  mental  defect.  Again,  many  women  applying  for  war- 
rants appeared  to  be  more  in  need  of  medical  attention  than 
of  justice  at  the  hands  of  the  court,  and  children,  sick  and 
starving,  Avere  daily  brought  into  the  court  by  mothers  who 
came  to  complain  of  their  husbands.  As  a  result  of  these  con- 
ditions the  Visiting  Nurses  Association,  at  my  request,  detailed 

Page  five 


in  September  1913  a  nurse  to  give  her  whole  time  to  needs 
arising  in  connection  with  the  Court  of  Domestic  Relations. 
The  importance  of  the  work  of  the  nurse  was  so  manifest  that 
a  short  time  later  by  a  vote  of  the  judges  of  the  Municipal 
Court  the  nurse  was  made  a  regular  attache  of  the  court  as  a 
deputy  bailiff — the  first  woman  to  be  appointed  a  court  bailiff. 
Another  important  addition  to  the  staff  of  the  court  was  the 
assignment  of  Dr.  Anna  Dwyer  to  be  the  physician  of  the  Court 
of  Domestic  Relations.  Medical  examinations  made  by  Dr. 
Dwyer  at  the  court's  request  revealed  a  startling  and  distres- 
sing state  of  affairs.  She  found  tuberculosis,  epilepsy,  syphilis, 
borderland  insanity,  idiocy  at  the  source  of  many  domestic 
troubles.  Separation  and  non-support  which  the  complaining 
wife  attributed  to  drunkenness  was  shown  to  have  its  origin 
in  disease.  Facts  brought  out  by  the  doctor  made  more  urgent 
the  need  of  a  well-equipped  psychopathic  laboratory,  where 
the  complete  physical  and  mental  condition  of  a  person  could 
be  determined,  a  project  earnestly  advocated  by  Chief  Justice 
Olson,  and  the  latter  part  of  April  of  this  year  saw  the  estab- 
lishment of  this  laboratory  by  the  Municipal  Court  of  Chicago. 
Even  in  the  short  time  which  elapsed  between  the  opening  of 
the  laboratory  and  the  close  of  my  service  in  the  Domestic  Re- 
lations Court,  a  number  of  cases  occurred  where  parents,  phy- 
sically mature,  were  by  the  medical  expert  shown  to  possess 
the  mentality  of  a  ten  or  twelve  year  old  child.  The  judge 
should  be  put  in  possession  of  facts  like  these,  if  he  is  to  decide 
cases  pending  before  him  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  the 
state  and  the  principles  of  natural  justice. 


OTHER  ATTACHES. 

The  working  force  of  the  court  has  been  further  increased 
by  the  addition  of  an  investigator  in  bastardy  cases  and  of  a 
Juvenile  Court  Probation  officer.  The  investigator  is  an  em- 
ployee of  the  state's  attorney's  office;  she  interviews  the  com- 
plaining girls,  finds  shelter  for  them,  when  necessary,  and  as- 
sists in  the  preparation  of  these  delicate  cases.  The  Juvenile 
probation  officer  looks  after  the  interests  of  the  children  in 
cases  where  facts  brought  out  on  hearing  before  this  court  show 
the  necessity  of  action  by  the  Juvenile  Court  on  behalf  of  the 
children. 


HEARTY   CO-OPERATION   OF   CHARITABLE 
ORGANIZATIONS. 

The  great  results  accomplished  by  the  Court  of  Domestic 
Relations  are  due  to  a  large  extent  first,  to  the  loyal  and  effi- 
cient manner  in  which  the  various  officers  and  attaches  of  the 

Pagt  six 


court  have  performed  their  duties,  and  secondly  to  the  cordial 
and  single-hearted  co-operation  of  the  numerous  organizations 
having  for  their  aim  the  betterment  of  the  city  and  help  for 
suffering  humanity.  Departments  of  the  county  and  city  gov- 
ernment, such  as  the  Juvenile  Court,  the  probation  officers,  the 
county  agent's  force — charitable  organizations,  in  particular 
the  United  Charities,  Catholic  "Women's  League,  Polish,  Ger- 
man, Jewish,  Bohemian  and  Italian  Aid  Societies,  the  Juvenile 
Protective  Association,  representatives  of  social  settlements, 
Legal  Aid  Society,  Houses  of  Refuge  for  women  and  children, 
and  a  large  number  of  other  charitable,  civic  and  church  or- 
ganizations, have  multiplied  the  power  of  the  court  for  good 
many  times.  They  give  relief  in  cases  of  distress  and  want, 
find  v/ork  for  the  unemployed,  secure  medical  aid,  reunite  hus- 
band and  wife  and  extend  sympathy  and  aid.  It  is  a  credit 
to  the  Cit}^  of  Chicago  that  so  many  public  spirited  and  char- 
itable women  and  men  are  ready  to  assist  the  court  in  its  great 
task.  The  thanks  of  all  good  citizens  are  due  to  the  tireless 
and  enthusiastic  charitable  workers,  co-operating  with  the 
Court  of  Domestic  Relations. 


GENEROUS  PRAISE  OF  THE  COURT. 

The  court  is  attracting  much  attention  and  receiving  much 
commendation  not  merely  throughout  the  United  States,  but 
in  foreign  countries  as  well.  Distinguished  visitors  to  Chicago 
ask  to  see  this  court  as  one  of  Chicago's  wonderful  civic  in- 
stitutions. Commissions,  sent  by  foreign  governments,  from 
countries  as  far  distant  as  Germany  and  Japan,  inspect  the 
Vv'orkiugs  of  the  court  and  recommend  a  similar  court  for  their 
own  countries.  Lord  Northcliffe,  the  well-known  English  pub- 
lisher, and  his  wife  could  not  admire  isufficiently  the  efficient 
and  practical  way  in  which  the  court  disposes  of  the  family 
wrongs  of  this  great  city,  and  called  it  an  institution  that 
could  not  be  improved  upon  by  any  country  or  any  private 
individual.  It  v/ill  not  be  long  before  everj^  large  city  will 
establish  a  court  patterned  after  the  Court  of  Domestic  Re- 
lations of  the  City  of  Chicago. 


MUCH  REMAINS  TO  BE  DONE. 

But  proud  as  Chicago  may  be  of  this  great  court,  much 
remains  that  could  be  and  should  be  improved.  My  experience 
as  presiding  judge  made  me  realize  that  a  number  of  changes 

Page  seven 


and  reforms  are  needed,  if  the  court  is  to  dispense  the  "newer 
justice,"  and  to  prevent,  as  well  as  to  punish  crime.  And  it 
is  the  chief  aim  of  this  report  to  call  to  the  attention  of  our 
public  officials  and  legislators  and  of  the  citizens  in  general 
what  the  needed  changes  are. 


ABANDONMENT  AND  NON-SUPPORT   OF  WIFE. 

The  law  covering  abandonment  of  wife  needs  amendment. 
A  husband  deserts  his  wife  and  leaves  her  in  utter  want.  Some 
time  later  he  is  apprehended  and  brought  before  the  judge  of 
the  Court  of  Domestic  Relations.  The  judge  orders  him  to 
pay  the  wife  a  certain  amount  a  week  for  her  support.  Here 
is  where  the  present  law  fails.  When  the  delinquent  husband 
has  paid  the  sum  ordered  for  one  year,  he  has  done  all  that 
this  court  can  require  of  him.  For  his  continued  neglect  of 
the  husband's  duties  he  is  no  longer  amenable  to  the  criminal 
law.  The  court's  power  is  exhausted.  Abandonment  and  non- 
support  should  be  made  a  continuing  offense,  so  that  a  de- 
serter could  be  arrested  at  any  time  and  made  to  support  his 
wife,  while  she  is  in  want,  or  suffer  punishment.  The  law 
should  further  be  changed  so  as  to  make  the  gist  of  the  offense 
non-support  instead  of  abandonment  coupled  Avith  non-support. 
A  woman  comes  complaining  that  her  husband  will  not  work, 
but  stays  at  home  and  loafs  and  drinks  on  the  wife's  earnings. 
The  law  is  powerless  to  help  this  woman.  As  long  as  the  hus- 
band lives  with  his  wife,  the  fact  that  he  is  a  worthless  fellow 
and  refuses  to  work  does  not  make  him  amenable  to  the  crim- 
inal law.  The  law  should  be  changed  so  as  to  subject  to  pun- 
ishiiient  any  husband  who  willfully  refuses  to  support  a  wife 
who  is  actually  dependent  upon  him  for  support.  Such  a 
change  in  the  law  would  also  cover  another  class  of  cases. 
Often  the  deserted  wife  is  at  first  able  to  support  herself  and 
takes  no  steps  to  have  her  husband  apprehended.  But  in  a  few 
years  her  savings  disappear  or  sickness  comes,  and  then  she 
would  like  to  compel  her  husband  to  keep  her  out  of  the  poor 
house.  She  comes  to  the  judge's  secretary  to  ask  for  a  war- 
rant and  is  told  that  it  is  too  late.  She  did  not  make  her  com- 
plaint within  eighteen  months  of  the  day  her  husband  lef  her, 
and  now  the  statute  of  limitations  has  intervened.  If  the  law 
made  the  willful  non-support  of  wife  a  crime,  she  could  get 
her  redress. 


CONTRIBUTING  TO   DEPENDENCY   OF   CHILDREN. 

The  law  making  abandonment  and  non-support  of  child 
a  crime  does  not  now  bear  equally  on  father  and  mother.  If 
a  mother  runs  away  and  abandons  her  small  children,  she  is 

Page  eight 


not  guilty  of  any  offense,  as  long  as  the  father  is  able  to  sup- 
port the  children  and  they  do  not  become  dependent.  The 
law,  as  it  is  now,  is  not  fair;  father's  desertion  is  a  crime, 
mother's  desertion  usually  is  not.  Protection  of  the  children 
should  be  the  aim  of  our  law.  The  duty  of  mother  to  care 
for  and  nurture  her  children  should  be  enforced  just  as  strictly 
as  the  father's  duty  to  support  them. 


MONEY  NEEDED  TO  BRING  BACK  ABSCONDING 
HUSBANDS. 

In  addition  to  the  changes  in  the  law  there  is  also  needed 
an  appropriation  from  the  county  funds  for  the  arrest  and 
return  of  deserting  husbands  who  have  fled  to  other  states. 
Running  away  is  such  an  easy  method  of  avoiding  trouble  with 
wife  and  the  law  that  cases  of  this  sort  are  extremely  numerous. 
The  deserting  husband  may  of  course  be  brought  back,  but  it 
costs  monej',  and  that  is  lacking.  I  took  up  the  matter  with 
President  McCormick  of  the  County  Board,  and  he  at  first 
allowed  some  money  from  the  emergency  fund  under  his  con- 
trol to  be  used  for  this  purpose,  and  sought  to  obtain  an  ap- 
propriation of  $5000  from  the  Board,  but  I  am  sorry  to  say 
that  the  commissioners  sav/  fit  to  make  an  appropriation  of 
$1000  only.  ]\Iuch  has  been  accomplished  with  the  small  sum 
available,  and  if  a  larger  sum  could  be  obtained,  so  that  the 
deserter  might  almost  uniformly  be  brought  back,  the  number 
of  desertions  would  decrease  very  rapidly.  The  county  would 
not  be  a  loser  hy  this  appropriation,  for  now  the  support  of 
the  deserted  families  generally  falls  on  the  county. 

Contributing  to  the  dependency  of  children  is  now  a  con- 
tinuing offense,  but  the  court  in  compelling  the  defendant  to 
pay  a  certain  sum  for  the  support  of  child  or  children  may 
make  the  order  for  only  one  year  at  a  time.  It  should  have 
the  power  to  enter  an  order  for  an  indefinite  time — until  the 
further  order  of  the  court  or  until  it  is  shown  that  the  child 
is  no  longer  dependent.  And  the  law  should  also  apply  to  any 
son  or  daughter,  without  regard  to  age,  if  he  or  she  is  crippled 
or  for  any  other  reason  dependent  on  others  for  support.  The 
process  now  available  under  the  pauper's  act  is  too  slow  and 
uncertain. 


HUSBAND  AND  WIFE  NOW  INCOMPETENT  TO  TESTIFY 

In  this  connection  I  desire  to  urge  another  change  in  our 
laws  suggested  by  cases  heard  in  the  Court  of  Domestic  Re- 
lations. As  the  law  stands,  husband  cannot  testify  against 
wife  or  wife  against  husband  in  cases  where  the  charge  is 

Page  nine 


contributing  to  the  dependency  of  children.  As  a  rule,  if  the 
man  is  tried  on  this  charge,  wife  is  the  best  witness,  that  is 
she  is  best  acquainted  with  the  facts.  Or  the  wife  may  be  the 
offender  by  drinking  and  neglecting  her  family,  and  the  strong- 
est testimony  could  be  supplied  by  her  husband.  But  the 
testimony  is  not  admissible,  and  prosecution  frequently  fails, 
because  there  are  no  other  witnesses.  There  is  no  reason,  why 
this  simple  change  in  our  law  of  evidence  should  not  be 
promptly  made  in  the  interests  of  justice  to  children. 


CONTRIBUTING  TO  DELINQUENCY  OF  CHILDREN. 

A  serious  defect  exists  in  our  law  under  which  the  charge 
of  contributing  to  the  delinquency  of  children  is  prosecuted. 
As  the  law  has  been  interpreted  by  the  Appellate  Court,  de- 
fendant cannot  be  convicted,  unless  the  state  shows  that  before 
the  alleged  act  of  the  defendant  the  child  had  already  been  a 
delinquent  child.  In  other  words,  the  man  guilty  of  the  down- 
fall of  an  immature  girl  cannot  be  convicted  under  this  act. 
He  may  be  guilty  of  seduction,  but  conviction  under  that  act 
is  difficult,  because  the  state  must  prove  that  the  girl  was  of 
previous  chaste  character,  and  evidence  of  slight  indiscretions 
brought  out  by  the  defense  may  defeat  the  prosecution,  and 
so  the  man  who  deserves  the  severest  punishment,  generally 
escapes.  The  act  in  question  should  be  worded  differently,  so 
that  punishment  might  be  meted  out  also  to  the  person  pri- 
marily responsible  for  the  delinquency  of  a  child. 


BASTARDY  ACT  A  BARBAROUS  LAW. 

The  so-called  bastardy  act  which  the  Court  of  Domestic 
Relations  is  called  on  to  enforce  deserves  unqualified  condem- 
nation. It  should  not  be  found  among  the  statutes  of  such  a 
progressive  and  enlightened  state  as  the  State  of  Illinois.  The 
very  name  is  a  survival  of  coarse,  brutal  manners  of  former 
times  and  is  entirely  out  of  place  in  the  courtroom  of  a  civilized 
state  of  the  20th  century.  A  woman  with  a  new-born  baby 
and  a  man  stand  before  the  judge.  She  charges  the  man  with 
being  the  father  of  her  child,  in  order  to  get  what  little  assist- 
ance the  state  extends  to  her.  In  the  complaint  which  she  has 
to  sign  and  swear  to,  she  is  made  to  say  that  "she  was  deliv- 
ered of  a  child  which  child  is  by  law  deemed  a  bastard."  If 
the  jury  hear  the  case  and  find  the  defendant  guilty,  they  sign 

following  verdict :   ' '  We,  the  jury,  find  that  the  relatrix 

is  an  unmarried  female,  and  was  on  the day  of 

Page  ten 


delivered  of  a  bastard  child  born  alive,  and  we  further  find 

that  the  defendant is  the  father  of  said  child."   Upon 

this  verdict,  or  a  similar  finding  by  the  court,  a  judgment  is 
entered.  Thus  the  state,  through  its  duly  constituted  court 
of  justice,  brands  a  baby — a  baby  that  is  innocent,  whatever 
degree  of  guilt  we  might  attach  to  the  father  or  the  mother — 
brands  it  a  bastard  at  its  birth.  Any  person  is  now  justified 
to  call  the  child  a  bastard  throughout  its  life. 


INADEQUATE    PUNISHMENT. 

Further,  the  act  falls  far  short  of  either  doing  justice  as 
between  the  man  and  the  woman,  or  of  providing  properly 
for  the  interests  of  the  child.  The  guilty  man  is  ordered  by 
the  court  to  pay  for  the  support  of  the  child  a  sum  not  ex- 
ceeding $550,  not  more  than  $100  the  first  year,  and  not  more 
than  $50  for  each  of  the  nine  succeeding  years,  and  to  give  a 
bond  for  the  payment  of  this  sum.  In  default  of  that  he  is 
committed  to  jail  for  six  months,  and  at  the  expiration  of  that 
term  he  is  free  of  all  obligations  to  the  mother  or  the  child. 
Frequently  a  settlement  for  a  much  smaller  sum  is  approved 
in  the  County  Court,  and  when  sometime  later  the  mother 
comes  to  request  the  assistance  of  the  Domestic  Relations  Court 
to  keep  herself  and  the  child  alive,  the  judge  is  powerless  to 
help  her.  It  is  quite  evident  that  even  the  full  sum  of  $550 
is  absurdly  insufficient  to  support  and  maintain  the  child;  until 
it  becomes  self-supporting.  It  is  not  fair  to  place  upon  the 
mother  almost  the  entire  burden  of  nursing,  feeding,  clothing 
and  bringing  up  of  an  illegitimate  child.  The  father,  as  well 
as  the  mother,  is  responsible  for  bringing  the  child  into  the 
world.  The  state  is  taking  an  unfair  advantage  of  mother's 
love  for  her  child  in  imposing  on  her  the  duty  of  the  child's 
support  and  letting  the  father  off  with  an  insignificant  penalty. 


RIGHTS  OF  ILLEGITIMATE  CIIILDREN. 

In  fact,  the  time  is  here  to  demand  an  even  more  radical 
change  in  our  "bastardy"  act.  "When  it  has  been  judicially 
ascertained  that  the  defendant  is  the  father  of  a  child  born 
out  of  wedlock,  does  it  not  seem  just  that  the  child  should  get 
the  full  benefit  of  this  finding?  Why  should  not  the  child  bear 
his  father's  name  and  have  full  rights  of  inheritance  and  be 
entitled  to  support  by  father,  just  as  much  as  a  child  born  in 
lawful  wedlock?  It  is  the  boast  of  the  modern  state  that  it  has 
a  specially  tender  regard  for  the  interests  of  the  children.  A 
child  should  not  be  punished  for  being  born  of  unmarried 
parents;  the  law  makers  should  remove  the  unfair  handicap 
now  placed  by  law  upon  illegitimate  offspring. 

Page  eleven 


TO  PROTECT  FEEBLE-MINDED  WOMEN. 

In  dealing  with  these  so-called  bastardy  complaints,  my 
attention  has  been  forcibly  called  to  another  defect  of  our  cri- 
minal code.  Women  with  illegitimate  children  are  brought  by 
friends  or  charity  workers  into  court  to  institute  bastardy  pro- 
ceedings, and  when  questioned  by  the  court,  or  examined  by 
the  doctor,  it  frequently  appears  that  they  are  idiots  or  possess 
the  mentality  of  a  ten  year  old  child.  The  man  who  knowingly 
takes  advantage  of  a  feeble-minded  woman  of  this  kind,  surely 
deserves  a  far  more  severe  punishment  than  the  payment  of 
$550.  Nor  is  this  an  infrequent  occurrence ;  every  little  while 
newspapers  report  a  scandal  in  some  institution  for  the  insane 
or  feeble-minded;  patients  confined  there  give  birth  to  babies, 
and  an  attendant  may  be  discharged.  There  is  no  law  now  to 
punish  a  brute  of  that  sort,  with  the  exception  of  the  inade- 
quate punishment  provided  under  the  bastardy  act.  It  is  my 
conviction  that  the  section  of  our  criminal  code  dealing  with 
rape  should  be  amended  so  as  to  cover  carnal  knowledge  of 
women  incapable  of  giving  intelligent  consent. 


ONE  YEAR  PROVISION  OF  DIVORCE  LAW. 

An  amendment  of  our  divorce  law  is  also  urgently  needed. 
The  law  now  provides  that  neither  of  the  parties  divorced  may 
marry  again  within  one  year  after  the  entry  of  the  divorce 
decree,  and  marriage  contracted  within  that  time  is  invalid, 
void  and  criminal.  It  is  a  common  occurrence  in  the  Court  of 
Domestic  Relations  to  have  a  v/oman  come  and  appeal  for  re- 
dress against  her  husband,  while  her  statements  show  that  he 
is  not  her  husband,  because  he  married  her  in  a  neighboring 
state  within  one  year  after  being  divorced  from  a  former  wife. 
As  long  as  the  man  and  woman  obtain  a  decree  declaring  them 
to  be  divorced,  little  attention  is  paid  to  the  provision  for- 
bidding remarriage  within  one  year.  A  very  simple  change 
in  law  would  be  sufficient.  Let  no  final  decree  be  granted, 
until  a  year  after  the  hearing  of  the  case,  but  let  the  parties 
be  free  to  marry  at  any  time  after  they  obtain  the  final  decree 
without  further  restrictions. 


CONSOLIDATION  OF  COURTS. 

All  of  the  above  changes  may  easily  be  effected  during  the 
coming  session  of  the  legislature,  if  their  importance  and  the 
inherent  justice  of  them  is  sufficiently  urged  upon  the  atten- 
tion of  the  legislators.  A  more  far  reaching  reform  requiring 
a  change  in  our  fundamental  law,  suggests  itself  to  one  who 

Page  twelve 


has  sat  in  the  Court  of  Domestic  Relations.  At  a  time  when  the 
idea  of  a  constitutional  convention  is  in  the  air,  it  is  fitting  to 
point  to  the  expediency  of  simplifying  the  judicial  system  of 
Cook  County.  We  have  now  too  many  courts,  each  with  its 
special  jurisdiction,  none  able  to  give  full  relief  which  the  facts 
show  may  be  needed.  A  woman  is  brought  before  the  Court 
of  Domestic  Relations,  charged  with  contributing  to  the  de- 
pendency of  her  children;  she  is  a  drunkard  and  every  week 
or  so  goes  on  a  spree,  leaving  her  small  children  uncared  for 
and  hungry.  The  court  may  commit  her  to  an  institution  to 
take  the  drink  cure,  but  it  has  no  jurisdiction  over  the  chil- 
dren. After  the  disposition  of  the  case  in  the  Domestic  Rela- 
tions Court  the  case  of  the  dependent  children  is  taken  over 
into  the  Juvenile  Court,  and  there  the  judge  hears  the  evidence 
over  again  and  takes  some  action  to  protect  the  interests  of 
the  children.  The  domestic  troubles  of  one  family  may  become 
the  subject  of  litigation  in  five  different  courts  of  Cook  Coun- 
ty, the  Juvenile  Court,  the  Court  of  Domestic  Relations,  the 
County  Court,  and  perhaps  a  suit  for  divorce  in  the  Superior 
or  Circuit  Court,  or  appointment  of  guardian  in  the  Probate 
Court.  Then  again,  the  Court  of  Domestic  Relations  is  a  city 
court,  and  its  power  ends  at  the  Chicago  city  limits.  It  is 
nothing  unusual  to  have  women  from  Oak  Park  or  Cicero  come 
to  the  court  for  warrants,  vrhieh  this  court  is  unable  to  grant. 
When  the  constitution  of  the  State  of  Illinois  is  revised,  the 
courts  of  Cook  County  should  be  consolidated  into  one  great 
court,  and  that  branch  of  it  having  jurisdiction  over  domestic 
relations  should  have  the  power  to  grant  complete  relief  and  do 
complete  justice  to  all  concerned. 


INSTITUTIONAL    CARE   RECOMMENDED. 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  a  considerable  percen- 
tage of  persons  brought  before  the  Court  of  Domestic  Rela- 
tions are  men  and  women,  victims  of  the  drink  or  drug  habit, 
defective  mentally  or  afflicted  with  loathsome  and  contagious 
diseases.  How  is  the  court  to  deal  with  them?  Those  that  arc 
guilty  of  some  offense  may  be  committed  to  jail  or  the  Plouse 
of  Correction.  If  the  object  of  the  court  were  merely  to  punish 
violations  of  the  laws  of  the  state,  this  might  be  sufficient.  But 
justice,  as  the  word  is  understood  in  this  year  of  grace  in  the 
enlightened  state  of  Illinois,  is  not  satisfied  Avith  the  punish- 
ment of  the  guilty.  It  aims  at  the  prevention  of  crime,  at  the 
reformation  of  the  offender,  at  relief  to  persons  wronged,  at 
protection  of  the  people.  When  the  court  sends  the  lazy,  drun- 
ken husband  to  the  House  of  Correction,  Avhat  becomes  of  the 
wife  and  children?  In  most  cases  charitable  institutions  or  the 
county  have  to  assume  the  burden  of  keeping  the  neglected 
family  from  starving,  while  the  guilty  man  docs  not  always 

Page  thirteen 


consider  it  a  great  hardship  to  be  compelled  to  spend  a  few 
months  in  a  penal  institution  conducted  as  humanely  as  those 
places  usually  are  in  these  days.  Is  that  full  justice?  And 
what  about  the  defectives  and  the  diseased  ?  Ho^v  is  the  judge 
to  deal  with  them? 


FAEM  FOR  BRUTES,  DRUNKARDS  AND  THE  LAZY. 

It  is  apparent  that  we  need  institutions  of  another  kind 
than  jails.  Earnest  and  thoughtful  consideration  of  this  ques- 
tion points  to  the  establishment  first  of  a  farm  for  brutes,  the 
lazy  and  the  drunkards  or  the  drug  fiends.  It  should  be  a 
farm.  Confinement  in  a  jail  or  a  workhouse  makes  the  prisoner 
feel  a  criminal;  it  feeds  his  animosity  against  the  society  and 
those  upon  whose  complaint  he  was  jailed,  and  whatever  phys- 
ical or  mental  ill  was  at  the  bottom  of  his  delinquency,  is  there- 
by aggravated.  On  a  farm  he  should  be  treated  as  a  v/ard  of 
the  state,  without  the  constant  reminder  of  his  disgrace ;  work 
in  the  open  would  benefit  his  health  and  would  be  a  part  of  his 
treatment  to  conquer  the  craving  for  liquor  or  drugs.  Refor- 
mation and  cure,  and  not  merely  punishment,  would  thus  be 
attained.  As  an  incentive  to  good  conduct,  I  would  allow  the 
detained  husband  or  wife  to  visit  their  families  once  a  week, 
the  privilege  to  be  withdrawn  for  any  misconduct,  particularly 
for  coming  back  drunk.  And  while  the  man  v/as  receiving 
treatment  or  correction,  his  family  could  be  supported  from  the 
proceeds  of  his  work,  after  deducting  the  expense  of  his  main- 
tenance. It  Avould  perhaps  be  possible  to  determine  the  amount 
allowed  by  the  court  to  the  dependent  family  by  its  necessities, 
particularly  the  number  of  children. 


THE  GREAT  PROBLEM  OF  THE  DISEASED  AND 
DEFECTIVES. 

A  bigger  problem  is  what  to  do  v\4th  the  diseased  and  de- 
fective members  of  society.  That  crime  is  frequently  due  to 
illness,  mental  or  physical,  is  of  course  no  new  discovery,  but 
the  work  of  the  doctor  and  the  nurse  in  connection  with  the 
Court  of  Domestic  Relations,  and  lately  the  establishment  of 
the  psychopathic  laboratory  in  the  Municipal  Court  have  re- 
vealed the  presence  of  unsuspected  causes  of  crinie,  delinquen- 
cy and  menace  to  the  public  with  which  neither  this  court  nor 
other  courts  are  able  to  deal  effectively.  That  horrible  disease, 
syphilis,  is  like  leprosy  in  that  it  gradually  affects  the  v/hole 
body  of  the  victim,  and  like  leprosy  may  be  communicated  to 
others.  Yet  if  a  leper  is  discovered,  what  a  menace  he  is  held 
to  be  to  every  individual  in  the  community,  and  what  vigorous 

Pagefourteen 


and  prompt  steps  are  taken  to  isolate  him.  Syphilis  is  more 
injurious  to  the  society  than  leprosy,  since  it  may  be  and  fre- 
quently is  transmitted  to  children  born  to  infected  parents. 
Think  of  babies,  born  blind  and  with  tainted  blood,  destined  to 
a  life  of  misery,  a  menace  to  those  with  whom  they  may  come 
in  contact.  It  is  not  generally  realized  how  common  is  this 
dread  disease,  as  well  as  other  venereal  diseases,  and  how  seri- 
ous and  urgent  this  problem  is. 


WHAT  OF  THE  FUTURE  GENERATIONS? 

Then  mentally  defective  persons  are  just  as  much  a  danger 
to  the  public  as  those  afflicted  with  a  loathsome  disease.  Phys- 
icians nowadays  have  much  to  say  about  the  abnormal  or  sub- 
normal individuals,  big  men  and  women  with  the  mind  of  a 
child,  boys  and  men  with  a  craving  for  blood,  sex  perverts, 
hysterical  persons,  people  on  the  border  line  of  insanity  liable 
unexpectedly  to  break  out  into  violence.  Headlines  in  news- 
papers tell  every  week  of  detestable  crimes  committed  by  men- 
tally deficient,  irresponsible  individuals,  crimes  often  hard  to 
solve,  because  of  the  lack  of  motive.  And  to  get  down  to 
the  more  common  facts,  is  not  a  consumptive  man  a  danger  to 
his  family  and  to  his  neighbors,  and  should  not  an  epileptic 
person  be  cared  for  by  the  state  so  that  he  might  not  injure 
himself  or  others?  Then  again  Avhat  of  the  future  generations? 
Should  mentally  and  physically  defective  people  be  free  to 
marry  and  bring  forth  unfortunate  beings  of  their  kind  into 
the  world?  And  whatever  one  may  think  of  eugenics,  it  is  sure- 
ly against  the  best  interests  of  society  to  permit  a  feeble- 
minded woman  to  walk  the  streets  of  Chicago,  and  in  the  course 
of  a  few  years  give  birth  to  half  a  dozen  subnormal  children  of 
different  fathers  —  a  case  unfortunately  by  no  means  rare. 
Here  is  a  big  task  for  the  civilized  modern  state,  and  the  time 
is  gone  for  shirking  it. 


COLONIES  FOR  DEFECTIVE  WARDS  OF  THE  STATE. 

Two  things  are  needed :  institutions  to  which  these  unfor- 
tunates might  be  committed  and  poAver  in  the  court  to  make 
the  commitment.  The  proper  institutions  are  lacking  now;  it 
is  evident  that  the  jail  and  the  insane  asylum  are  not  the  places 
in  which  these  unfortunates  could  be  properly  cared  for.  The 
County  Hospital,  the  Detention  House  and  the  Oak  Forest 
Home  for  Consumptives  may  be  used  in  some  cases,  but  they 
do  not  begin  to  meet  the  emergency  existing.  The  state  or  the 
county  must  establish  special  institutions  for  the  treatment  of 
the  defective  wards  of  the  state  and  for  their  segregation  from 
those  vhom  they  might  injure.    Farms  out  in  the  county,  with 

Page  fifteen 


appropriate  work  for  each  inmate,  under  supervision  of  expert 
physicians,  would  cure  many  unfortunates,  and  in  time  restore 
them  to  society,  wliile  at  the  same  time  this  would  prevent  de- 
fectives from  multiplying  their  kind  and  protect  society  from 
those  who  would  ever  be  a  menace  to  it.  This  is  the  only  com- 
prehensive and  humane  way  of  dealing  with  this  difficult  pro- 
blem, far  superior  to  the  ineffectual,  partial  and  brutal  mea- 
sures, like  the  sterilization  of  criminals. 


COURT  SHOULD  HAVE  POWER  OF  COMP/IITMENT 
FOR  INSTITUTIONAL  CARE. 

To  make  this  solution  of  our  social  problem  effective,  the 
court  must  have  power  to  commit  defective  persons  and  per- 
sons with  dangerous  diseases  to  the  proper  institution.  Com- 
mitment may  now  be  made  only  as  punishment  for  crime,  and 
it  must  be  to  a  penal  or  reformatory  institution.  A  consump- 
tive is  greater  danger  to  the  community  than  a  petty  thief,  but 
court  may  only  persuade,  not  compel  him  to  enter  an  institu- 
tion for  treatment.  A  man  charged  with  contributing  to  the 
dependency  of  his  children  v/as  found  to  have  consumption  in 
an  advanced  stage.  He  was  a  real  danger  to  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren, as  they  had  all  been  infected  with  the  same  diesase  by 
him,  and  I  tried  to  persuade  him  to  go  to  the  Oak  Forest  Home 
for  Consumptives.  The  man  stubbornly  refused  to  go,  al- 
though it  was  pointed  out  to  him  that  this  step  would  be  best 
for  him  and  for  his  family.  Finally  after  some  careful  ques- 
tioning it  came  out  that  he  would  not  go,  because  he  was  afraid 
that  his  miistache  would  be  shaved  off.  "When  he  v\''as  assured 
that  his  mustache  would  be  perfectly  safe  at  Oak  Forest,  the 
man  consented  to  go  there  for  treatment,  but  remained  there 
only  a  short  time  and  again  returned  to  his  family.  —  If  a  case 
of  small-pox  is  discovered,  we  do  not  consult  the  likes  or  dis- 
likes of  the  affected  person,  but  remove  him  at  once  to  a  place 
where  he  cannot  be  a  menace  to  others.  If  the  commissioner 
of  health  may  be  trusted  Avith  such  an  arbitratry  power,  surely 
the  court  should  be  authorized,  after  proper  investigation  and 
hearing,  to  commit  a  diseased  and  defective  person  to  a  public 
institution,  to  remain  there  until  recommended  for  release 
by  the  board  of  physicians  in  charge. 


INSTITUTIONS  WILL  BE  SELF-SUPPORTING. 

The  question  of  expense  should  not  stand  in  the  way.  It  is 
not  an  insuperable  objection.  The  initial  cost  —  land,  build- 
ings and  equipment — woud  be  considerable,  but  it  seems  very 
likely  that  wealthy,  public-spirited  citizens  who  appreciate  the 

"Page  sixteen 


seriousness  of  the  problem  would  offer  land  or  buildings  free 
to  the  county  for  this  purpose.  It  is  not  rash  to  say  that  in  a 
short  time  the  institutions  would  be  self-supporting.  Nearly 
all  of  the  inmates  could  be  given  some  useful  employment  in 
the  open,  and  enough  country  produce  could  be  raised  on 
these  farms  to  supply  the  big  county  institutions  —  the  jail 
with  its  population  of  twelve  to  fifteen  hundred,  BridcAvell 
with  a  still  larger  number,  the  enormous  new  county  hospital, 
the  Oak  Forest  and  Insane  institutions  etc. 


APPEAL  FOR  ACTION. 

Chicago  has  been  a  pioneer  city  in  many  social,  civic  and 
judicial  reforms.  Its  Court  of  Domestic  Relations,  Court  of 
Morals,  the  Juvenile  Court  are  admired  and  imitated  all  over 
the  civilized  world.  It  is  peculiarly  fitting  that  Chicago  should 
lead  other  communities  in  providing  an  effective,  practical  and 
inexpensive  method  of  dealing  with  the  subnormal,  the  defec- 
tive, the  dangerous  waifs  of  humanity.  Here  are  the  facts  and 
here  is  the  remedy.  As  a  man  to  whose  lot  it  fell  for  more  than 
a  year  to  deal  Avith  these  unfortunate  beings,  I  appeal  to  the 
people  of  the  City  of  Chicago,  and  of  the  whole  State  of  Illinois, 
to  face  the  situation  and  apply  a  remedy.  I  appeal  to  you,  men 
and  women  of  the  civic  and  charitable  organizations,  to  you, 
the  good  people  of  the  churches  —  study  the  problem  and  insist 
on  a  solution.  I  appeal  to  you,  men,  to  Avhom  the  people  have 
entrusted  the  administration  of  their  affairs  and  the  protection 
of  common  v/elfare,  to  take  appropriate  action.  And  in  partic- 
ular I  respectfully  urge  you,  Mr.  Governor  and  members  of 
the  legislature,  Mr.  President  of  the  County  Board  and  com- 
missioners, and  you,  Mr.  Mayor  and  aldermen  of  the  City  of 
Chicago,  to  give  your  serious  attention  to  these  grave  evils,  so 
that  the  proper  cure  for  them  may  promptly  be  found. 


JOSEPH  Z.  UHLIR, 

Judge  of  the  Municipal  Court. 


•Pflf  e  levtnteen 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-UflBANA 


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